Muhibb Al-Din Al-Khatib - Simon Fraser University

107 Pages·2005·2.52 MB·English

by  Rizvi, Sayyid Muhammad

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MUHIBB &-DIN AL-KETATIEb
A Portrait of a Salafi-Arabist
11886-1969)
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
MASTER OF ARTS
in the Department
of
Historv
@ Sayyid Muhanunad Rizvi
SIMON FRQSER UNIVERSITY
December 1991
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APPROVAL
NAME: Sayyid M. Rizvi
DEGREE: M. A.
TlTLE OF THESIS: Muhibb Al-Din A-Khatib: A Portrait of a
Salafi-Arabist (18 86-1 969)
EXAM1MIMG COMMITTEE:
CHAIR: J. I. Little
Dr. William Cleveland, Senior
Supervisor and Professor,
History Department
Dr. John Spagnolo, ~s'~octhteProfessor
History Department
-
Dr. Derryl MacLean, Assistant Professor
Examiner, History Department
DATE: February 20, 1992
PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE
! hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend
my thesis, project or extended essay (the t i t l e of which is shown below)
to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or
single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the
library of any other university, or other educational institution, on
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for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted
by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying
or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed
without my written permission.
Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay
Muhibb Al-Din A-Khatib: A Portrait of a Salafi-Aral~ist
(1886-1969)
Author:
(signature)
Sayyid M. Rizvi
February 21, 1992
(date)
A B S T R A C T
This thesis is about Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib (1886-1969), a
transitional figure whose public career spanned the Ottoman,
the Egyptian liberal, arid the Nasserist eras. Khatib was a
political activist, a Salafi-Arabist journalist and writer.
The most important question in modern Middle Eastern history
is about the role of Islam in the Arab world. After the
collapse of the Ottoman empire, the Arab world found itself
without the caliphate system towards which it was always
oriented. Various new trends --from Pharaonic nationalism to
Arab nationalism-- were tried out by the intellectuals.
In their study of the modern Middle East, the historians
have focused more on the secularfliberal group, both the
creative as well as the secondary intellectuals. On the other
hand, little work has been done on the reformist/salafi writers
of the twentieth century. Moreover, the few studies that have
been done on the reformist/salafi writers concentrate on the
creative intellectuais and have ignored the secondary writers
among them.
This imbalanced approach in the intellectual study of the
modern Middle East had led quite a few western scholars to
write off Islam as a viable political force; they were,
therefore, taken by surprise by the present resurgence of Islam
in that region.
My thesis attempts to redress the neglect of the secondary
Muslim intellectuals by studying Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib and
placing this mainstream Salafi-Arabisc writer in the proper
historical context.
Khatib's life and his voluminous writings show that Islam,
in its various forms, was always relevant to the XusLims of the
which existed in the cultural and intellectual debate i.n Egypt
of the post-World War One era, but it also brings us closer to
the continuity of the Islamic trend which mounted a fierce
attack upon the elite which was espousing a liberal and secular
orientation for the Egyptian society. Khatib belonged to t.he
generation which served as a link in the chain of continuity of
Islamic thought in the twentieth century Middle East.
It is the continuity of the Islamic trend in the first half
of this century which makes it easier to understand the recent
Islamic resurgence among the Muslims of the Middle East.
* * *
"...but I do not think I had learned the lesson
well enough when I wrote my own book,
Arabic Thought in the Liberul Age.
It now seems to me to have been wrong in
laying too much emphasis upon ideas
which were taken from Europe,
and not enough upon what whs retained, even if
in charged form, from an older tradition."
3
Professor Albert Hourani
I would like to thank my senior supervisor, Professor
William L. Cleveland for introducing me to the western academic
tradition with which I --having studied in a traditional Muslim
system of education-- was not very much familiar, and also for
his guidance during all stages of this work. My understanding
of the twentieth century Middle East owes much to the readings
done under his supervision. I am also grateful to Professor
John P. Spagnolo who was very helpful in studying the
nineteenth century Ottoman Empire which was the background into
which Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib was born.
I am also indebted to my parents whose encouragement meant a
lot to me. Finally, my wife, Zahra, is thanked most of all for
her understanding and support without which it would have been
difficult to complete this work and at the same time fulfill my
role as the Imam of the Shia Muslim Community of British
Columbia.
vii
C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTION. 1
Chapter One
THE FBRRaBTFVE YEARS. 10
Th-. Political and Social Background. 10
The Family of al-Khatib. 13
Khatib's Education and Political Awareness. 16
Chapter Two
AN ACTMST FOR POLITICAL REFORM. 22
Pre World War One Era. 22
Eve of the First World War. 30
Shurif Husuyvn and the Arab Revolt. 35
Khu.tib us the Propugundist of the Arub Revolt. 37
Shurif Husu-yn in the Eyes ofKhutib. 43
The Syrian Arab Government. 46
Chapter Thee
A SALAFI JOURNALIST AND WRITER. 50
KhatibinEgypt. 50
The Salafiyyah Movement in Egypt. 56
Sulufism, of ul-Ki1,utib. 60
Khatib and the Liberal Intellectuals. 64
Khatib and the Palestine Issue. 73
Khatib and the Conservative 'Ulanx%'. 82
CONCLUSION. 88
Bibliography. 93